The Guardian's Journey
by Hiira
Summary: After the final battle, Harry learns that the veil is possibly a portal to another world. He hasn't forgotten about Sirius. Any small chance to meet him again, Harry was willing to take it. He just wasn't expecting to travel back in time to the Feudal Era.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha.

Summary: After the final battle, Harry learns that the veil is possibly a portal to another world. He hasn't forgotten about Sirius. Any small chance to meet him again, Harry was willing to take it. He just wasn't expecting to travel back in time to the Feudal Era.

Warning: This story will contain (little?) spoilers from Harry Potter and Inuyasha (I think...) so if you don't like spoilers don't read this story. Also, some facts may be different from the original plot and characters might behave differently from their original natures but that is how I need them in order to write my fanfic so again if you don't like it refrain from reading it. If you have a constructive criticism for me, do go ahead and help me but if you don't like my fic please read something else. You have been warned!

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The Guardian's Journey

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"Inuyasha, I think we're going in circles." Miroku worriedly looked around the dense forest that they have been hiking for past few hours.

"That's not the only thing." Inuyasha growled, his sensitive nose and ears picking up something that has been following the group for some time now.

"Does the smell still bother you?" Kagome asked remembering how Inuyasha, Shippo and Kirara hesitated entering the forest at first due to obnoxious smell – a scent of rotting fleshing being masked by a sickly sweet odour. The rest of the party did not smell anything but for unknown reason a chill ran down their spines ever since entering this forest.

The Forest of Death's Scent – villagers more commonly referred to as the Forest in fear of summoning the 'Death'. Even though Kagome couldn't smell anything, the air in the said woods was indeed unpleasant like its name. It wasn't as if there was pollution or too much humidity in the atmosphere, but not long after coming to this forest, it felt as if something was draining away your energy and breath of fresh air.

"That's not it." Inuyasha's already bad mood was worsening from the stress of staying on guard for several hours now. Also, for starter, he wasn't fond of their client who was the reason for entering this forest.

"Inuyasha." Miroku knew what his white haired companion was referring to. While they have been lost in this forest, something had been following them or more like ever since those things have been following them, it seemed like they had been going in circles. And Miroku didn't doubt that it wouldn't be long before Inuyasha's short temper got the better of him.

"I'm not feeling well." Shippo sluggishly moved from Kagome's embrace and almost hurt himself when he landed on the ground. Before Kagome could check him over, he started to gag and it wasn't long before he started to throw up.

"Shippo, are you okay?" Kagome kneeled down and massaged the small fox youkai in an effort to comfort him. Sango petted Kirara in her arms to lessen her companion's discomfort as Shippo's condition reminded her of Kirara's current state as well.

"No." Shippo resumed his previous unpleasant activity again. "Ugh... The smell is getting worse and it's making me nauseous."

"How about you, Inuyasha?" Sango looked at Inuyasha, but he only grunted in response and turned his head away saying, "it's nothing." Everyone knew that wasn't true.

"Let's take some rest. Maybe drinking a pop can help relieve the nausea." Kagome reached into her bag and brought out a bottle. But without a warning, the bottle in her hand was knocked away as though something had hit it.

They were immediately on alert and looked around the surroundings, but all was silent except for the bottle that continued to roll on the ground, not even a bird's chirping was heard. Inuyasha was tenser than before as his eyes rapidly surveyed the scene while his ears flicked in different directions. He was so focused with trying to detect the creatures that had been tailing them that he didn't notice Kagome hesitantly making a move to pick up the fallen soda bottle.

"Kagome, no!" Inuyasha quickly lunged at the said girl but it was a moment too late as Kagome suddenly sank into the ground. With Kagome's scream piercing through the thick woods, portion of the forest Kagome had disappeared faded away like a fog to reveal a stiff cliff.

"Kagome-sama!"

"Kagome-chan!"

Both Miroku and Sango rushed to edge of the cliff where Inuyasha managed to grab Kagome's hand before she completely dropped to her doom. Inuyasha sighed in relief and pulled up Kagome back to safety.

"Kagome-chan, are you okay?" Sango assessed bleeding from cuts and scrapes Kagome sustained when she fell in concern. While Sango looked after Kagome, Inuyasha, Kirara and Shippo's sensitive hearing picked up a hushed laughter behind a tree not too far away from them.

"That'll teach them a lesson!" The young child's voice continued with laughter.

"Yeah! A lesson that'll scare them away!" The same voice as before was heard once more with uncontrollable giggles.

Inuyasha felt anger bubble at those words and pulled out his sword, slashing the tree that was hiding the owner of the voice. Everyone with exception of Kirara and Shippo was surprised at Inuyasha's abrupt action but their confusion was soon resolved when the fallen tree revealed two small blue fireballs floating in midair.

"Ahh!" The fireballs screamed in fright and tried to run away but Inuyasha quickly blocked their path and pointed the Tessaiga in a menacing manner.

"You think it's funny tricking others to run in circles and go off a cliff?" Inuyasha snarled in rage. Kagome could have died or gotten seriously hurt from that stunt these creatures thought were so funny. "Since you like teaching others lessons, I'll teach you some lessons as well!" Inuyasha flexed his other free hand to show his sharp fingernails and this caused fireballs to squeak in fear.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called out to stop him from hurting what now appeared to be defenceless young entities.

"Don't worry." Inuyasha reassured her as he sheathed his sword. Even though he was extremely mad, he wasn't about to slay what appeared to be non-evil creatures. "I'm just going to teach them a lesson they won't forget." He was just going to give them a really good whack! With that determination, Inuyasha lunged at the fireballs. Others were anticipating a scene they were all too familiar with to follow, however, their predictions were wrong as Inuyasha unexpectedly flung towards them and made a rough landing.

"What do you think you're doing in my forest?" They turned towards a new voice to find a raven-haired young man who seemed to be in late teen years wearing a black robe. However, his green eyes and facial characteristics, which Kagome could best describe as Caucasian like features, gave the group the impression that he was also a youkai as no Japanese looked like the man.

"Harry-sama!" The two fireballs rushed towards the newcomer and to everyone's astonishment, the fireballs shifted their forms to a two toddler boys wearing white kimono who appeared to be around five years of age. They had black hair and seemed to be an identical twin. The two boys continued to run in their new form and the stranger knelt down and lifted the boys up in each of his arms in a protective manner.

"Harry-sama! He's mean!" One of the boys in the stranger's right arm pointed an accusing finger at Inuyasha who was getting up from the ground he was unceremoniously tossed to.

"He scared us with a big sword!" The other boy tried to give his best intimidating glare at Inuyasha and his sword.

"Oh, I believe he was more than trying to be mean by scaring you two." The one referred to as Harry said as he briefly glanced at Inuyasha's sharp nails before taking in the rest of the company.

"Who the hell are you?!" Inuyasha barked back angrily.

"I'll say it again. What do you think you're doing in MY forest?"

"YOUR forest?" Inuyasha repeated the words disbelievingly. "What kind of crap are you trying to pull with us?"

"Don't be rude to Harry-sama!"

"Learn some manners!" The twins piped up heatedly at Inuyasha while Harry's gaze got fiercer at the group.

"I'll teach you some manners-"

"Wait Inuyasha." Miroku had been watching the scene with critical eyes and finally decided to step in to stop his companion. "Excuse us, but could it be that you're the guardian of this forest?"

"Guardian?" Sango and others looked expectantly at Miroku for further elaboration.

"When I was young, Mushin-sama told me of a legend of guardian who watched over lost souls and guide them to the next life. It's said that the guardian lives in the Forest of Death somewhere in the north. The stories the villagers have told us about this forest has a lot of resemblance to the story I had heard growing up."

The twins in Harry's arms were about to retort at the speculation when they felt Harry lowering himself to put them back on the ground. Once on the ground, the two children waited Harry to continue.

"How about we play a game?" Harry grinned mischievously at the twins.

"A game?" The boys asked simultaneously.

"Let's play hide and seek. You two hide and I'll seek." The twins' faces brightened at the suggestion and they squealed in delight.

"Really?! Yay!"

"No cheating, okay?"

"Alright. Go ahead, I'll go search for you guys soon."

Inyasha and rest of the group watched as the twins took off, their forms shifting back to blue fireballs after some distance away from Harry. When the two giggling fireballs were out of sight, Harry turned back to them; the warm expression he had worn moments ago was replaced with annoyance.

"We apologize for our rudeness. My name is Miroku, this is-"

"I don't care. Get out." Inuyasha was getting displeased at Harry's rapid change in attitudes, but Miroku didn't seem to be fazed.

"Please, hear us out. " Although it was not confirmed directly, Miroku had no doubt that the individual in front of him was something more than a simple youkai unlike they had originally thought.

When this stranger had arrived, it was as if air was starting to get purified. Shippo had commented that sickly sweet smell had shifted to a pleasant refreshing sweet smell of fruit and that rotting flesh odour had changed to a new baby smell.

"A girl's soul has been taken to this forest by what is described as a dog spirit and we're trying to return her to her family." So Miroku decided to solve the matter in a civil manner.

"Those under my care do not hurt a living being unless in self-defence."

"Yeah, right!" Inuyasha snorted at Harry's claim. When Harry scowled at him, Inuyasha countered the look before he continued. "Those twins almost killed Kagome by sending her off a cliff."

"Inuyasha!" Miroku could feel a headache coming his way. He could understand where Inuyasha's anger came from but his companion's short temper was making his job more difficult than it already was.

"They died before they were even five. They don't fully understand consequences of their actions on others. Nevertheless, they didn't violate any of my rules." Harry looked over the intruders, lingering on Kagome longer than others before eyeing back Inuyasha. "On the other hand, you lot have already broken several of my rules in MY forest."

"We didn't know about these rules but we still apologize for troubles we've caused. It won't happen again. But please, help us in finding this girl. The witness says that while the girl was sleeping, a transparent black dog came and snatched a glowing light from the girl and she hasn't been waking up since then. It seems that light was the girl's soul or something precious."

The group had been travelling in search of Shikon jewel shards when Kagome returned from home. They had come across a village where they found a nobleman's daughter, who had been staying at countryside to treat her illness, was not waking up from her sleep ever since a 'dog ghost' snatched away the girl's 'soul'.

When they examined the girl, she was pale but otherwise appeared to be sleeping. However, they were unable to wake up the girl and there were no other physical anomalies. However, Miroku discovered that the girl lacked spiritual energy and it was very likely that the girl's soul had been taken as others had suspected. If the soul weren't returned soon, the girl would subsequently die.

So like usual, they took the job of finding the girl's soul in return for some payment. The girl's mother had been very tearful as she expressed her worry. The mother was overcome with grief as she explained how her daughter was soon to be married and everyone was looking forward to the event. They listened in sympathy but Inuyasha was at the corner rolling his eyes. When they left the house, Inuyasha was quite sceptical of the whole situation and Miroku agreed that the women wasn't wholly truthful with them, but nonetheless they accepted the job as they needed money and food to aid their journey.

"Please, the girl's mother is dying from the worry. Help us." Kagome added when Miroku's words seemed to lessen Harry's cold expression. She was a bit perplexed when Harry studied her for few minutes yet again with incomprehensible expression and she shrugged it off thinking it was due to her outfit.

In contrast, Inuyasha was getting agitated at Harry's overt scrutiny of Kagome and others were concerned if their white haired companion would snap again. Thankfully, Harry heaved a sigh and turned his gaze away to a tree. When Harry lifted his hand, a beautiful white owl flew from the tree and landed on the outstretched arm.

"Hedwig, could you help me by letting the dog and other similar animal spirits know that I want to speak with them right now." The bird hooted before taking off to the sky.

"We thank you for your assistance." Miroku bowed his head.

"I still standby what I said about those under my protection."

"Keh! Like we can believe a word from a youkai." Inuyasha muttered the words but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. It was clear that he was still mad from the incident with Kagome and twins.

"You're one to talk, hanyo. You should know from your own experience that humans are just as wicked creatures or have you led a sheltered life of being loved and accepted by them as you were growing up?" Harry scoffed at the notion. "I doubt it."

Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, was pissed. It was bad enough that he felt someone unleash a youki in his forest, when he arrived at the spot, one of the stupid outsiders were about to attack the twins. Harry easily guessed the twins probably played some pranks on them but he knew there was no ill intention. The poor kids died young. Killed to be exact by their own relatives when those wretched people wanted the inheritance the twin's parents have left them.

On top of that, the wizard thought that the hanyo was rude and needed to learn some manners as twins have nicely put it. At least, the monk seemed to know how to be diplomatic, trying to appease him after deducing his identity. But what has really caught Harry's attention to help them was the girl who seemed to be in familiar clothing he hasn't seen for a long time.

"What did you say?!" It wasn't as if the stranger was wrong, but the truth still struck a cord with Inuyasha the wrong way as it was a subject he didn't like to talk or reminded about. He took a step towards Harry in a hostile way but did not get far as a dog leapt out from bushes and positioned itself between the two. The dark brown dog viciously barked while baring its canines.

"Come here." The dog heeded Harry's command but not before giving one last menacing bark at Inuyasha. Harry scratched behind the dog's ears affectionately and the spirit wagged its tail in joy. "Let him bark all he likes. It's nothing but a gibberish unlike you guys." The saviour of the wizarding world smirked in small satisfaction as he saw provoked Inuyasha being subdued by his companions.

They were quickly joined by three more dogs and wolves, all of which surrounded Harry as though to shield him from the trespassers. Harry crouched down and petted every one of them lovingly and they welcomed the attention. This wasn't all of the spirits but the forest was vast and it could take some time before Hedwig managed to gather all of them so Harry decided he would work with what he has for the moment.

"I have a question to ask you guys. Are any of you aware of a girl's soul being snatched away from the nearby village?" There were moans and growls among the spirits gathered and Harry stroked them again to soothe them. "Of course not. I don't doubt for a second that you guys would break my rules."

Kagome and others watched the scene while trying their best to keep Inuyasha from having unwanted outbursts at the man. Then out of the blue, they heard a familiar giggle. All quieted at the disturbance.

"Shh! They'll hear you." It was unmistakable; the twins were back.

"But it's funny. They don't know." Harry shook his head in amusement and quietly approached the source of voices. Kagome and others watched in fascination at the playful expression that suddenly decorated the young man's face.

"I think I just heard Akichi and Sakichi around here." Harry looked up at the tree to see the twins beam impishly before jumping at him. Harry caught them with no difficulty and started to tickle them. "Found you!"

"Haha! Stop!"

"It tickles!"

After few more tickles, Harry stopped and lifted them back up in his arms as he knew the boys liked to be held.

"It's not fair! Aki gave us away by laughing!"

"Did not! Besides, it was Saki who shushed too loud!"

"Boys, no fighting. How about we play another round?"

"Yeah!" Akichi and Sakichi nodded their head vigorously. Sango and Kagome found the children adorable but seeing the twins again only added to Inuyasha's irritation.

"But before that do you mind sharing with me what was so funny?" Harry asked gently.

"We know who you are looking for!" The boy referred to as Akichi announced proudly.

"Really? Who would that be?" Harry continued to maintain his soft tone, but despite the gesture, twins hesitantly looked at each other then at the outsiders before finally looking at the group of animal spirits staring at them. Harry quickly dismissed the creatures to return to the forest and shot a light to the sky to call back Hedwig. Even after animal spirits have disappeared the twins still sounded unsure.

"Would he be in trouble?" Sakichi asked.

"I have no doubt that whoever it was, he didn't break my rule. And you boys know better than anyone else that you're not in trouble if you follow the rules as you pranksters try to stretch them as much as you can without breaking them." Harry then gave them a playful bump on top of boys' heads using his own head and this seemed to cheer up the twins again.

"Yeah! ... I mean ... no?" Akichi looked at his twin, confused if what Harry just said was a compliment. Sakichi was just as puzzled and Harry gave them a good laugh before asking again.

"Now can you tell me who it was?"

"It was Momo-chan." Akichi started.

"We saw him coming back from a village with a girl." Sakichi added.

"Momo?" At the mention of the docile black dog that arrived at the forest few weeks ago, Harry thought that certainly did fit the description.

As a guardian of the Forest of Death's Scent, he was responsible for taking in lost souls or souls that were not ready to move on. He was then to protect or guide them until they embraced death, allowing them to start the next phase of afterlife.

When the twins came to the forest two weeks ago, it became apparent that they craved love and wanted to play, both of which that were lacked while they were alive after their parents' death. After another a week or two of playing a role of loving nanny and older brother, Harry predicted that the boys would move on to the next plain. However, when it came to Momo the dog, it was difficult because he did not share what he wanted. To Harry, Momo seemed to be waiting for someone.

"I'm sorry Hedwig, but I'll have ask you to fetch Momo for me." Harry said apologetically, but the white owl didn't appear to mind as she gave another happy hoot before taking off from the branch she had just landed. Harry then settled the boy on the ground again. "Thank you very much for all your help boys. You guys were very helpful. I don't think I could have figured this out by myself."

"Really?" The twins sounded pleased at the achievement.

"Really. Now will you two be good boys and give us some alone time until I finish some business with Momo and the visitors? If you two behave, I might have some treats for you later."

"Okay!" With another thrilled cry, the twins took off again but the wizard knew they would come back soon if he didn't settle this matter quickly. Harry then turned his gazed back to the group.

"A monk and taijiya," Harry studied the two aforementioned then turned his interest to Shippo and Kirara to continue, "a fox and cat youkai" and finally shifted to the last remaining of the group. "A hanyo and... miko?" Harry stated the last part unconvinced, eyeing the bow and arrows commonly used by a priestess.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No, hanyo. Though interesting group you got there. I just couldn't fathom what common goals this group of vast different individuals shared." Despite Harry's comment, Miroku felt that the young man wasn't really that interested.

"Umm..." Kagome started, "Are you really a guardian of this forest?"

Harry eyed the girl briefly but swiftly shifted his attention when he felt a familiar aura hesitating to make a further advancement towards him.

"Momo, I know you're there." Harry spoke warmly. "I'm not mad. Come here."

Before long, Inuyasha and others saw a transparent black dog approaching Harry timidly while dropping his ears and hanging his head low. The dog stopped after taking several steps and whimpered. Upon seeing this, Harry had no doubt that Momo had done something. Harry moved towards Momo, lowered himself and stroked the dog's back to comfort him.

"It came to my attention that a black dog has taken a soul from a girl who lives in a nearby village." The dog became silent but Harry wasn't discouraged. "Momo, talk to me. I'm not mad you. I trust that you kept our promise. I know you had a good reason for what you did. Please, tell me. What happened?"

What followed after were more whines and whimpers to Inuyasha and his companions' ears. However, they soon discovered that those meaningless sounds had more meanings to the young guardian than to them as he added, "I see," and "go on," before finally saying, "so that's what happened. I would like to meet her, could you bring her?"

However, the dog didn't budge from his spot as he stared at Inuyasha's group. Then gave a few fierce barks.

"Don't worry my friend, I will protect her. I won't let anyone take her away unless she wishes otherwise." At Harry's word, the black dog licked Harry's face to show his gratefulness then ran towards the woods. All was quiet again but the silence that followed was quickly broken by Inuyasha's accusations.

"See! One of your wicked creatures did steal a soul!"

"He did no such a thing!" That was the first time that Kagome and others had heard Harry raise his voice. "He's a gentle, loving soul who was unable to move on because his love for the girl was too great that he was worried to leave her behind all alone! If you badmouth those who are under my care again, I'll make sure to shut you up for the rest of your life!"

"Why don't you try?!" Inuyasha drew Tessaiga and took a battle stance. Fortunately, before a fight could break out, Kagome took a quick action.

"Inuyasha, sit!"

Harry raised an eyebrow as Inuyasha dived toward the solid ground only to smack himself painfully. Harry noticed other companions wore an exhausted face and assumed that this wasn't the first time that their companion's bad temper had got them into more trouble than necessary.

"We again apologize for our companion's rudeness." Miroku bowed and Harry waved him off knowing that the hanyo was still mad from the twin's stunt and rest of the group really was genuine in their apology.

Miroku sighed in relief when the guardian seemed to calm down though still a bit irritated by Inuyasha. He was just glad that Harry was looking at Inuyasha as though he was an annoying immature child.

"While we wait, let us introduce ourselves again; my name is Miroku and this is Sango, Kagome-sama, Inuyasha, Shippo and Kirara." Each person who was introduced by Miroku gave acknowledgement to Harry – that is everyone except Inuyasha.

Harry closed his eyes momentarily in fatigue. These were young mortals who were either in their teens or early 20th. Well, the hanyo could be older but he sure acted like a juvenile. Nonetheless, he shouldn't have shouted and threatened like that no matter how much that hanyo was infuriating. After all, he was much older than them and should handle the situation in more mature manner. He was about to introduce himself when he felt Momo with another presence.

"Hello, my lady." Harry gave a bow and smiled. "It's nice to finally meet the only person who has showered Momo with so much love."

The group turned to the direction the dog had taken off to earlier and found the girl that they had seen back in the village's mansion.

"To you as well, my lord." The girl returned the bow that radiated her grace and lineage. "I heard a lot about you from Momo."

"I hope they were pleasant ones." Harry chuckled before indicating to Inuyasha's group. "I have a few guests who came to the forest claiming that you were abducted."

"Oh no! Momo did no such a thing!" The girl appeared aghast at the idea. What the girl revealed next was a cliché story.

The girl's mother passed away when she was young. Her father soon remarried and her stepmother, who wasn't so fond of her, sent her away to remote countryside with an excuse that fresh air would help cure the illness she has been suffering since she was born. Thus the girl was forced to move away with her mother's old servant. The harsh environment combined with feeling of abandonment worsened her health over the years.

One day, she found children throwing rocks at a black puppy in the village due to its black color. She felt a sense of kinship to the animal and adopted the puppy naming him Momo despite concerns that the black dog will bring a bad omen to her already unfortunate circumstance.

Years passed and her small happiness was broken up when the old servant who had cared for her like grandmother passed away due to an accident, however, she coped the incident with Momo. Then out of the blue, she had learned about an arranged marriage her stepmother and father have set up without her knowledge. She didn't want to get married, especially to a man who had a notorious reputation, but like in the past, she didn't have any say.

To make matters worse, Momo also died from an old age. Feeling devastated, her health started to deteriorate drastically, resulting her to constantly suffer in pain. Then Momo visited her a week after his death and she was able to understand him for the first time. She learned that she had only few days to live which probably would be filled with agony due to her illness. So when Momo offered her to take an early leave with him to the next life, she gladly made her choice.

"If that's what you wish young lady, then that is what you'll get. You may stay here with Momo until your physical body takes its last breath; afterwards, you'll be able to move on to the next life."

There was nothing Kagome or others could do but watch as Harry gave the girl a permission to stay in the forest and the girl politely take her leave. What were they supposed to do? Drag the girl back to her body so she suffers in pain for few more days before dying?

"I told you that ugly cow was full of crap." Inuyasha looked at Kagome who hadn't believed his first impression of the girl's mother.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha." Kagome looked crestfallen when the realization hit that she had been deceived and she had doubted Inuyasha who had been right all along.

"And you didn't believe me."

"'I told you so,' is quite an immature thing to do." Inuyasha jumped at Harry's words. To be more precise, he was surprised at how the man named Harry had come near them without him taking notice.

"What did you say?" This time Inuyasha's sharp tone was less due to losing his tempter, but more to do with being on guard. The half demon was surprised that Harry was now standing so close to him and Kagome.

There was another reason Inuyasha was on edge with the newcomer. Ever since Harry had appeared, Inuyasha tried to get the scent of the man, however, he couldn't smell anything. It's true that obnoxious smell had shifted to a quite pleasant fragrance when the man appeared like Shippo had remarked, but at the same time, Inuyasha noticed that he couldn't smell the man's scent. It was like those nice fragrances were masking the man's true scent and Inuyasha was more certain about this as he was unable to detect Harry approaching them until making his first appearance. After Harry had appeared, that was when the pleasant smell started to spread around them.

"You there."

"Me?" Kagome was startled when the raven-haired guardian called her out.

"Yes. Your name was Kagome, right?"

"So what about it? What do you want from her?" Inuyasha interrupted Harry and blocked Kagome from the guardian's view.

"Since I helped you, I don't think it's such an issue that you do me a favour." Harry looked pointedly at Miroku as he deemed the monk to be the most negotiable person in this group.

"Of course. What could we aid you with?" Miroku gave a nod of agreement.

"First, excuse me for my behaviour and stay still while I take a look at Kagome's clothes." With that Harry walked around Inuyasha to go behind Kagome. But as the wizard expected, the hanyo had moved along with him to block his path.

"What do you want from Kagome?"

"Some information. Also, I want to examine her clothes up close." Harry answered without backing down from Inuyasha's glare. Harry looked back to rest of the group, namely the monk, who seemed to have more common sense in him and then the supposed miko who was actually involved in this.

"That's fine." Kagome moved around Inuyasha and advanced to Harry, allowing him to inspect her uniform.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha sounded upset as he grabbed Kagome's arm. But Harry ignored the shout since the girl was within the close reach and thus grasped back portion of the blouse's green collar, earning Inuyasha's outburst, "Hey! What are you doing?!"

The group watched as the green eyed man examined the collar up close before flipping it over to check something that they could not identify. Kagome was nervous, not sure what the stranger was scrutinizing. Next, they saw he observed Kagome's yellow backpack; he touched the bag especially around the metal buckles. When he finally stepped away, he looked back to Kagome with a serious face.

"Where did you get your bag and clothes?"

"Eh?" Kagome tried to come up with a plausible answer without drawing more attention. "Um... at a store!" Which technically wasn't a lie.

"Where in which store?" Harry sounded exasperated at the reply. He eyed back to her shoes and skirt; sadly, the latter part of his examination seemed to tick off the hanyo even more.

"What's it to you?!" Inuyasha came back and blocked his view. Harry sighed at the action. Though he had to admit, a man studying a skirt worn by a woman certainly didn't paint a pretty picture no matter what the intention was.

"Let me rephrase the question for you then." Harry stepped to the side to make an eye contact with Kagome again. "Which era did you come from?"

"Wha, what?!" Everyone seemed quite taken aback by that query. And soon their shock was replaced with wary and mistrust. Harry continued nonetheless.

"Those are machine made fabrics and sewing machine stitchings. There is no way you can get that at a shop in this era although it's possible to get it from a shop in future."

"How did you?" Kagome seemed stunned at the disclosure.

"You didn't answer my question." Harry pointed out.

"I..."

"Who the hell are you?!" Inuyasha pointed his sword at Harry. The others in the group called out to Inuyasha to 'calm down,' but it seemed to Harry that the hanyo was really on edge now which indicated his hunch was correct. He heard a protective screech from Hedwig in a nearby branch and waved his hand to reassure her.

"Don't worry Hedwig." Although Inuyasha blocked his view of the girl, this time, Harry didn't bother making an eye contact with her and continued. "I assume from your companion's reaction, that you're not from this time period; probably from future. If I say I came from Britain, does that ring a bell to you?"

"Britain? As in England?" Harry noticed the recognition from Kagome. "You mean you're from Europe?!" Kagome sidestepped away from Inushaya to better examine the man in front of the group. As she observed him again, she had to admit that he definitely had the appearance of European descent.

"I don't know about your era, but last time I was there, there was only one England in Europe. So when are you from?"

"Who are you?" Kagome was on guard. She didn't know how to interpret the information she had just learned. And obviously, her companions didn't understand the information itself to begin with.

"I guess I haven't introduced myself. Pardon me for my manner but you have to admit that we didn't have a good start to our relationship. My name is Harry Potter."

Kagome looked at Harry and recognized it was a Western name.

"Now I answered your questions, can you answer mine? When are you from?"

"I'm from 500 hundred years in the future." Inuyasha growled unhappily when Kagome answered the man.

"500..." Kagome and others saw Harry smile a little, though they could not figure out why. "I see. I also came from roughly about same time as you."

There was something else Harry really had been wanting to ask since he suspected the girl was from the future, but he decided to wait and let the information sink in first.

"Future?!" Kagome was speechless at first like others. "You came from the future as well?!"

"That's a bullshit!" Inuyasha was suspicious. "How would you get here from there?!"

"You're getting annoying." Harry looked at Inuyasha. "You really should learn to control your temper. I understand why you guys would be wary, but I don't see a reason why you have to yell at me so often with that aggressive tone."

"Inuyasha calm down." Miroku came forward now to hold Inuyasha back. The man had a point. There was no merit in solving this problem with a physical violence yet. "So far, Harry-sama had been accommodating to us and he hasn't made any hostile gestures."

"He pushed me to ground and threatened to shut me up!"

"You were about to attack the twins; I'm sure it was to protect them. And he threatened you earlier because you continually aggravated him with this very behavior." Miroku countered.

"He's suspicious!"

While the two bickered Harry looked back Kagome and decided to finally ask the question he had wanted to ask.

"So how did you get here?"

"Eh?" At first, Kagome didn't understand the meaning of the question. "We travelled here from east-"

"No, that's not what I meant. I mean how did you came to this era?" When she appeared cautious in answering the question he had sought after the most, he was getting frustrated.

"Why would you want to know that?" Miroku asked carefully.

"I came from similar era as she did but have been unable to return. Why do you think I want to know that information?"

"You mean you can't go back home?" Kagome asked shocked at the discovery then felt sad for the man.

"No."

"How did you get here?" At Kagome's question, Harry made a tired face.

"You guys really don't like to answer questions, do you? Was it too much favour to ask in return?"

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Kagome immediately apologized feeling guilty.

"There is nothing to apologize to him about, Kagome!" Inuyasha sounded indignant.

"Inuyash, we promised him-"

"We didn't promise him anything!"

"I went through a veil in search of my godfather and ended up here in this era." Everyone turned back to Harry at the interruption.

"A veil?" Kagome was asked not understanding what Harry was referring to.

"It doesn't matter. That thing doesn't exist here. It turns out that it was a one-way portal." Kagome and others then heard him snort before mumbling, "no wonder he never came back."

Kagome watched Harry. He looked sad and resigned. It sounded like the man was searching for someone but ended up in this era and now was unable to return home. She didn't want to imagine what that would feel like.

"Now could you please answer me? I too have families and friends back home and I miss them very much." It was a desperate plea. Harry was tired. It had been 200 years since he came to this time period. He searched for Sirius but there was no trace of him just like there was no trace of veil to return him home.

Fortunately, the previous guardian of the Forest of Death's Scent who had taken him in and helped him from the beginning had allowed him to settle down in this forest. Harry wasn't planning on abandoning his post as the new guardian by returning home. No, that was too much responsibility to throw away. But he really wanted to see his friends again; let them know he was okay and see them doing well.

"I use the Bone-Eater's Well to travel to this era."

"The Bone-Eater's Well? When you say 'use,' what does it exactly mean?"

"Well... I use it to go back and forth between this era and the future." Kagome saw something akin to hope glimmer in Harry's eyes.

"Where is that well?" Everyone heard desperation in that voice.

"What are you going to do?" Regardless of whether the story the man was telling them was true, Kagome knew the answer to the question. It was an expected desire.

"What else would you want do if you were in my position?" Harry asked back Kagome.

"I would want to go home."

"I do too."

This time Kagome was confident that the person in front of him was genuine of what he just said. She had been wrong and deceived by that noble girl's stepmother, but Kagome for some reason believed in sincerity the man portrayed.

"Would you like to come back to the village with us?" Kagome asked. She felt bad for the man. Also, she wasn't sure if the man would be able to use the well. And finally, she wasn't comfortable in telling the man the direction to the village and let him go off alone because he was still a stranger. She worried for the village.

Harry seemed surprised at the offer then answered, "I would appreciate that." For the first time in 200 years, the saviour of the wizarding world felt that long forgotten hope of seeing his friends again re-igniting.

* * *

A/N: Happy New Year everyone!

This is yet another crossover fic I've wanted to write for some time. My plot involves Sesshoumaru as well, but that's probably few more chapters down the road. Only problem is I'm not sure when I'll write the next chapter like Dream of Gumiho. Also, this fic hasn't been beta'd like Child of Fire (My other fic, Dream of Gumiho and Descendant of Leaf are not beta'd either). But I still hope that you guys enjoyed it. For now, my next focus is back to Child of Fire. :]


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